Travel Midwest History

Lake Michigan Interstate Gateway Alliance (LMIGA)

In 1993, USDOT identified the Gary-Chicago-Milwaukee Corridor (GCM) as an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Priority
Corridor. Initial membership included a coalition of Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin transportation agencies and other interested
parties. The primary focus of GCM was corridor planning and development of coordinated responses to traffic congestion. In late
2006, the focus of the GCM Corridor was reoriented towards interstate operations, and the name changed to reflect the new focus.
The new Lake Michigan Interstate Gateway Alliance (LMIGA) was born, and at this time its corridor boundaries were expanded to
include southwest Michigan and the area east and south of Madison, Wisconsin. The total LMIGA coverage area includes 51 counties
encompassing parts of four states (Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan).

Today, LMIGA is a voluntary organization with active member participation from the Wisconsin Department of
Transportation, the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Indiana Department of Transportation, the Michigan
Department of Transportation, the Illinois Tollway, the Skyway Concession Company LLC, and the Indiana Toll Road
Concession Company LLC. The goal of LMIGA is to focus on operations within the region to ensure that traffic moves
safely and efficiently. This goal is realized by interagency communication and coordination, improvement projects,
training efforts, and region wide planning.

The LMIGA ITS Priority Corridor Program operates through a comprehensive structure of work groups that meet on
a regular basis. LMIGA regional travel information, including current travel time, congestion, incident, construction,
special event, and weather information is available on the Travel Midwest web site.

The Great Lakes Regional Transportation Operations Coalition (GLRTOC)

The Great Lakes Regional Transportation Operations Coalition (GLRTOC) includes transportation agencies responsible for
operations on major transportation routes stretching from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Toronto, Ontario (Canada). The GLRTOC
was formed in May 2010 with a core mission to collaborate on improving cross-regional transportation operations in support of
regional economic competitiveness and improved quality of life. The major GLRTOC goals include incident management, improved
freight operations, work zone coordination and regional coordinated traveler information. The GLRTOC three strategic focus
areas include freight operations, reliability and mobility strategies, and traffic incident management/emergency transportation
operations. The GLRTOC has also established relationships with adjacent multistate coalitions to enhance the use of technology
and reliable operations and to provide the most efficient transportation network for mega-regions and the nation as a whole.

One of the GLRTOC projects included expansion of the Gateway Traveler Information System (GTIS)/Travel Midwest website to
cover the entire Interstate 94 corridor from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Detroit, Michigan. This expansion included all
interstates in the Minneapolis/St. Paul and Detroit metropolitan areas in addition to providing coverage along Interstate 69
and Interstate 96 in Michigan. The goal of this project was to have automated GTIS connections with other major traffic
management and operations centers in the GLRTOC area to display traveler information (travel times, speed, congestion,
construction, incident, special event, and camera views, etc.).

Downstate Illinois Expansion

In 2015, the GTIS was expanded to cover the remainder of the State of Illinois. Additional maps that cover Bloomington/Normal,
Champaign/Urbana, Effingham, Kankakee, Metro East St. Louis, Peoria and Springfield were added. The following interstates were added to the
reports: I-24, I-64, I-70, I-72, I-155, I-164, I-172, I-255, I-270, I-465, and I-474. The traveler information data that was
made available includes construction, travel times and congestion (where available), incidents, special events, and hazardous
weather (that impacts traffic). Dynamic message signs and closed circuit television cameras were displayed on the maps and
reports.

The goal of the Downstate Illinois Expansion was to make GTIS/Travel Midwest website serve as the foundation traveler
information resource for the Illinois Department of Transportation website
Getting Around Illinois).

Iowa / Ohio Expansion

In 2017, the GTIS was expanded to cover I-80 from central Iowa to northwestern Ohio. Maps of Des Moines
and Toledo were added. The following
interstates in Iowa were added to reports: I-35, I-74, I-80, I-235, I-280, and I-380. The following interstates in Ohio were added to reports:
I-75, I-80, I-90, I-280, I-475, US-23, and US-24. The traveler data the was made available includes dynamic message signs, incidents and
construction data in Iowa.